Thyme

by K.R. Foster

This title is part of the 2010 Advent Calendar: Naughty or Nice

Julien Lafayette and Gregory Verne, best friends since they were children, could have been more... but Julien was too afraid of destroying their friendship to act on his feelings. By the time he built up his courage, Verne had joined the Marines. Luckily for Julien, his Nana—the witchdoctor of New Orleans—always looks out for him, and for this holiday season, she’ll give him a chance to reclaim what he so foolishly passed up the first time around.

Genres: M M Romance, Christmas, Romance, Holiday, Contemporary, Military Fiction, Short Stories

58 pages, ebook

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

I've wanted to be an author since I was a child. Now I just want to be a better one.

I probably wouldn't have even started writing original fiction if I hadn't received a fortune cookie that said: You have a charming way with words and should write a book.

When I'm not writing--which isn't often--I edit for other writers, read, and sing.

Reviews

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Angsty Advent Stars

This is all about regret and second chances and the power of belief and hope and magic to right some wrongs.

Touching on favorite tropes of friends to lovers and gentle giants, it was also quite brutal in the feels.


If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read December 2025

Wonderful Christmas story!

This one made me do all the ugly crying. Then it made me cry all the happy tears.
I'm such a sucker for time travel stories...

[Katrina Passick Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a part of me, albeit a very small part, that hates this story because of what was required to make the MC see sense. But I love how it ended up.

[Serena Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story. Second chances always fascinate me, and this one was more heart-rending and fascinating than most. I was in tears a third into the book, thinking that this couldn't end well. But it's a Christmas story, right? So I read on. Next I was about to throw it against the wall in disgust - because it looked pretty bleak. And it got a lot worse before it got better.

The recovery at the end was brilliant. I found myself wishing it could be like this for more people. A truly happy end, once the main character had learned his lesson. Bravo!

[Tailtiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story starts with Julien having a “feeling”. He’s learned to trust his family’s sixth sense and knows something’s coming and finds a package from his nana with some herbal tea. Just after he drinks it, he gets a call from the parents of his childhood friend who’s in Afghanistan, saying he was injured and is in a hospital in Germany and he needs to come. Although Julien has been in love with Verne (they go by Jules and Verne) since he was a kid, it’s not clear exactly what happened, but he rejected Verne’s advances years ago and Verne promptly joined the marines. Julian’s complete sense of devastation at the news of his friend is so clear in this story and well done. He can’t think, he can’t focus, he’s just in a fog of regret and recrimination that he drove Verne to join the marines and now he’s dying.

He finally gets to Germany and confesses his love and they have their first kiss. The paranormal aspect comes in when Verne succumbs to his wounds and Jules wakes up back on the day that he first rejected Verne, leading him to join the military. He knows his witch doctor grandmother arranged for this and he’s determined not to screw it up this time and he’ll tell Verne exactly how he feels.

I found this story quite confusing as it hops around in time and chunks seem to be missing, in part perhaps due to the fact that it’s all told from Julien’s point of view. There are flashbacks to when Jules was 13 and his father died and he moved in with Verne’s family for awhile, but you never know exactly for how long he lived with them although he refers to them as his surrogate parents. You never really know exactly what he did or didn’t do to Verne to reject him, just lots of self-recrimination for driving him away, and you’re in the future, then the past, but he’s aware he’s in the past and getting a do-over. I just found it was a rather ambitious for a short story.

I have to admit it kept me guessing. Would they get together with Vern being disabled? Wait, he died. What? Now it’s 2001 again? You also only get to know anything about Verne through Julien’s recollections and he’s a rather idealized character in Julian’s mind. Readers who enjoy a literal second chance at love stories will enjoy this if you can accept the paranormal twist that allows it to happen.

[Ebook Addict Reviews]

There is pain, suffering but ultimately joy in Foster’s “Thyme.” I’ll be honest, the pain and suffering even as I read the happy ending, still lingers with me, a day later. Yes this is a Christmas tale with magic but the beginning chapters are as emotionally heartfelt and painfully real as anything I’ve read. Some of us have experienced a missed opportunity of loving a special someone, whether the result of bad timing or fear of rejection. We don’t usually get an opportunity for a ‘do over’ and I desperately wanted these characters to have one.

For three years or more Julien Lafayette and Gregory Verne have been out of each other’s lives until the unthinkable happens. Gregory is seriously injured in Afghanistan and Julien must rush to his friend’s side while he struggles to live. The author’s use of the names Jules and Verne were a distraction in this novella that could have been avoided; but I quickly got pass it. The relationship between Jules and Verne and the horrible circumstances that bring them back together were so emotional I had tears in my eyes as I read some passages. Why did Julien and Verne stay apart for so long? I read the story twice and the author never fully explains the event that took place to separate them though there was ample opportunity to do so. Perhaps it was a good choice not to put the actual event in the story because if it was trivial it would have lessened the story’s impact. That lack of knowledge is really a small thing to me and doesn’t detract from a wonderful story. This novella was written “For the man and women who can’t be open about their love, even though they’re willing to die to protect my country.” Despite the front page realism of that dedication and the story within, magic permeates this story and the reader is left smiling. It is the realism of “Thyme” that I remember and will remember for a long time. I think it’s because the reality of our existence would dictate that such a happy ending could never happen. But then again, I always did and still do believe in miracles. “Thyme” is a story of a miracle in the true spirit of Christmas that is definitely worth reading.

J

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

For such a short story it took its own sweet time getting going. The ending I knew was coming from the very beginning so it was frustrating waiting to get to it. There was a lot of inter dialogue about the "big mistake" Jules had made, but when we finally see the scene we never exactly find out what he did to set this whole story in motion. Because not making the first move seems like a weak reason for someone to run off and join the military. Maybe that's just mean. An inaction causing such a huge action? It seems off. Other than that it was a nice holiday read.

[melek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was sad and i was like is this how its going to be to the end but of course it wasn't like i expected i did get lost during i was confused to. there were flashback, julien and Verne have been friend since. Now he received a phone call saying verne has been hurt and in germany and needs to come quick that his dying. But of course it nt how it seems. Somehow there was a time travel or something like that between but you get the picture once you read it.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

5 stars

For a short story, Thyme is extremely well written, with lots of depth in terms of plot and characters. Foster wrote a cool time travel story that was not too complicated or confusing and had me cheering Julian on. I can’t say much more without giving away the coolness of the ending.

Read Jason’s review in its entirety here.

[Rachel Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful and emotional read for a short story. I was wondering how this could end with a happy ending, but it did! I don't want to give anything away to spoil it, but I really enjoyed this one!

[JenMcJ]

to-read

[Paws · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy hell! Don't read without tissues! Or, is that just me....? Let's hope Nana was right.